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PNS Daily Newscast - February 22, 2019

North Carolina will hold a new election to fill the final disputed seat in the U.S. House. Also on our Friday rundown: Baltimore sues Monsanto and others for polluting city waterways. Plus, a public lands program moves towards permanent status.

Study: Streams Emit Greenhouse Gases as Temperatures Warm

A new study shows that climate change could be worsened by CO2 emitted by more organisms growing in streams. (California Native Plant Society)

May 29, 2018

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Streams and rivers will emit increasing amounts of carbon dioxide as temperatures rise from climate change, according to a new global study.

New research finds that just a 1 degree Celsius rise in temperature will result in a 24 percent increase in the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from these waterways. Aquatic scientist Alba Argerich from the University of Missouri said models of our changing climate include the effects of the oceans, forests and industry, but not the massive numbers of rivers and streams across the world.

"With this study now, this is confirming that, well, the trend can be even worse, right?” Argerich said. “If we don't take them into account, into these global climate models, we are missing an important piece of information."

Argerich said streams and rivers need oxygen and have respiration similar in a way to humans. Organisms in and on the water use and produce carbon dioxide. As temperatures go up, her research predicts more carbon dioxide will be produced.

The analysis was published in the journal Nature Geoscience.

Researchers also studied streams in Alaska, Australia and Puerto Rico. Argerich said she hopes this is the model of the future for studying climate change. She said funding for this type of research is tight, especially in other countries, but a global view is needed to really understand what is going on.

"I imagine that this is the way that the future of the science has to go, right? Instead of doing our own experiments, trying to work together to have a global picture,” she said.